Obama’s Birthday Bash, Former Florida GOP-er to Run as a Democrat and More in Capital Eye Opener: Aug. 4

Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT OBAMA: Want to send a birthday gift to President Barack Obama? He’s accepting presents in the form of campaign donations.

Obama turns 50 years old today, and he kicked off the celebration with a fund-raising event in Chicago on Wednesday night at the Aragon Ballroom. Ticket prices ranged from $50 to $38,500, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. All proceeds from the event will go to the Obama Victory Fund, Obama’s joint fund-raising committee with the Democratic National Committee.

Musicians Jennifer Hudson, OK GO and Herbie Hancock performed, and the purchasers of the most expensive tickets, at $38,500, attended a dinner along with the concert.

Both Obama and Vice President Joe Biden cancelled a number of fund-raising events throughout the past month to stay in Washington amid the debt ceiling negotiations.

During the second quarter of 2011, the Obama Victory Fund brought in about $39 million, according to a review of campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Overall, the president and the DNC raised a combined $86 million during the second quarter.

The DNC also held fund-raisers across the country on Wednesday — from Los Angeles to Tampa to Boston. These events featured prominent Democratic leaders such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

FLORIDA GOP-ER SWITCHES PARTY ALLEGIANCE: A former Florida Republican state senator, Nancy Argenziano, plans to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 — as a Democrat.

The reason for the party switch? “The current iteration of the party abandoned real Republican principles long ago to cater to ideologues and corporations,” Argenziano said in a statement.

During the 2010 election cycle, Southerland ousted Democratic Rep. Allen Boyd, despite raising less than half the money. Southerland raised about $1.2 million and Boyd raised about $2.6 million, research by the Center for Responsive Politics shows.

In her statement, Argenziano named oil and gas giant Koch Industries as the most egregious example of a corporation that the Republican Party has catered to. Southerland received $13,900 in contributions from the oil and gas industry during the 2010 election cycle, including a $5,000 contribution from the Koch Industries PAC.

FEC IN TIFF WITH NRCC: The Federal Election Commission is apparently not happy with the National Republican Congressional Committee for the way it discloses information about its donors, Politico reported. The FEC will not comment on what issue it takes with the NRCC’s disclosure methods. But the NRCC recently wrote a letter to the FEC saying that committee does all it can to encourage donors to report their occupation and employer information, suggesting these details may be at the center of the argument.

During the 2010 election cycle, the NRCC brought in about $134 million in donations, research by the Center for Responsive Politics shows. Of that money, about $36.5 million came from individuals donating more than $200, the threshold at which the FEC requires donor information be disclosed. Another $34 million came from individual donors who gave $200 or less. And another $42.4 million came from donations by political committees, such as PACs and campaign committees of Republicans. During the 2010 election cycle, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) donated more than $3.7 million to the NRCC from his campaign committee, more than any other Republican lawmaker. The NRCC also took out $12 million in loans and accepted several million dollars of transferred funds.

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